Warm Radiant Beautiful
by piercesbitch
Summary: Sam and Quorra have left The Grid and are now both in the real world. They now have to live in this world with each other, for they have no one else. Sam shows Quorra how people live in this world, and how not everything has to be perfect. Spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

It was just as he had described it. Warm. Radiant. Beautiful. His words echoed in her head as she felt the light and the warmth of the sun on her skin. She clung on to him as they sped over a bridge on a motorcycle. Sam was driving as fast as he could, but it still wasn't near as fast as the lightcycles can go. Quorra had her head rested on Sam's back with her eyes wide open. She was taking in this new world, the world she had heard so much about. Of course, it was more beautiful than she had ever imagined when Flynn was describing it to her. Everything was bright, and there were more colors then she had seen on The Grid. But more importantly, there was the sun. It kind of reminded her of Sam, especially the way he told her about it. Sam was warm, and radiant, and (in her eyes) beautiful. Being in this new world with him felt amazing to her. She had never been this happy in all of the cycles she had lived. Especially after The Purge, nothing really made her feel this way after that. But now, she was happy and, for once, she didn't feel lonely.

Before they had gotten on the bike, Sam had told her that he was bringing her back to his place. She wanted to meet Marvin, the small Boston Terrier Sam had told her about. Quorra was more excited than ever. She already loved this new world, and she had only been there for a couple hours. Sam sped through the huge city, and before Quorra has realized, they had pulled into a garage-like house.

"Wow," Quorra said with a grin on her face as she got off of the motorcycle. Her short, black hair was ruffled from the wind and her eyes were wide with excitement. Sam gave her a one sided smile after getting off the bike himself.

"I knew you'd like that," he answered with a chuckle. At that moment, Marvin had woken up from his dog bed and ran over to Quorra. He started barking with excitement and she took a step back from him. Sam leaned down and scooped him up in his arms. "That's no way to say hello to a lady, Marv." He ruffled the top of the tiny dog's head and he stopped barking. Quorra was looking at the dog timidly. Sam noticed and let out a small chuckle. "It's okay, " he said. "His bark is bigger than his bite." She took a step closer to both Sam and the dog, reaching her arm out slowly to pat his head. She grinned again as Marvin cocked his head and licked her fingers.

"He's such an interesting creature!" Quorra said enthusiastically as she slid her hand down his back.

"That's Marvin," Sam chuckled then kissed his head. She leant her head in the side in curiosity.

"What was that?" she asked him as she let Marvin lick her fingers and hands.

"What was what?" He looked up from the dog and to her; she had a slightly puzzled look on her face.

"That," she nodded her head towards the dog. "What you did to his head." Sam arched a brow at her then looked down at Marvin.

"Oh, I kissed his head," he smiled and did it again. "See?" Quorra cocked her head to the side again.

"What's a kiss?" she asked; Kevin had never explained to her what exactly a kiss was.

"Uhm…" Sam chuckled as he thought. "Just like the sun, I've never really had to explain it before."

"Try?" Quorra asked with a cute and curious smile on her face. He nodded and continued thinking.

"Well, I guess you could say that it's a display of affection. Like a hug," he shrugged and looked up at her. "Marvin licking your hands is his way to kissing. People use their lips instead. People kiss lips, checks, hands, neck," he chuckled again. "Anything, really." She nodded as she listened to him.

"I have never been kissed," Quorra stated. "Nor have I ever kissed someone… or something." Sam chuckled while smiling.

"That's no surprise, considering where you come from." She nodded then looked at Marvin, who was still in his arms.

"Can I kiss the dog?" she asked with a smiled.

"Of course! Marvin would love a kiss from a pretty lady." He held the dog out to her and she leaned down and only pressed her lips against his head, not puckering them or anything.

"Like that?" Quorra ask him as she stood up straight again.

"Uh, maybe not quite like that," he said with a shrug.

"Can you show me then?" She smiled widely again and looked at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"Uhmm…" he hesitated then looked down at the dog in his arms, which was beginning to squirm. He leaned down and placed Marvin on the floor. He ran around and jumped on to the couch.

"Please?" Quorra asked hopefully she took a step closer to him; there was now only a few inches between both of them.

"Do you really want me too…?" Sam asked. He didn't mind kissing her, he just didn't want to feel like he was taking advantage of her. She nodded her head quickly.

"Yes! I want to learn everything about your world," she said adamantly. He thought it was cute how excited she was about everything new.

"I guess it couldn't hurt then," he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. She stood perfectly still, waiting for him to make him move. "Ready?" he asked as he let his hand drop to his side. She nodded quickly then relaxed her face so that she wasn't smiling. He slowly leaned forward and placed his lips on hers. She stood there quietly, with her eyes open, as Sam softly kissed her lips. Once Sam pulled back, she grinned at him.

"That was… nice," Quorra said. She quickly leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. He chuckled lightly then picked up Marvin off of the couch.

"Don't forget him! He wants a proper kiss, now that you know." She placed a quick kiss on his head then scratched behind his ear and smiled. Sam put the dog down again and when he looked up, Quorra was walking around his tiny garage-house and lightly running her fingers over everything. He watched her silently. He was intrigued in the way she moved through this world. All her movements looked slow, fluid, and well thought out. Like she was afraid one wrong step would bring the world down. And she did think that if she made one wrong step, or touched the wrong thing, this world would fall away and she would be back on The Grid. She felt like this whole thing was a dream, and that she would wake up soon, back in her bed in Flynn's hideaway. She made her way over to the corner that had a motorcycle leaned on its side and some tools hanging on the wall there. She picked up a book from the work area and scanned the cover.

"You are reading on how to fix motorcycles?" Quorra asked as she looked up to him. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, that bike there is my dad's from back in the day," he smiled, but it quickly faded from his face. He had just gotten his father back, only to lose him within a few hours of having him. He let out a slow sigh then ran his fingers through his hair. "I've been working on it to get it running again. Twenty years in a shed really did some damage," Sam chuckled and shrugged slightly. He pushed any negative thoughts from his head and told himself that he should be used to not having his father. Quorra nodded slight then set the book back down in its original spot.

"Your father was a great man," she said as she walked back over to him. He nodded slowly then sat down on the couch and rested his elbows on his legs and his head in his hands. She silently and carefully moved to sit down next to him. "He saved me when no one else would. He took me in and kept me safe. He taught me many things of this world. He lived in secret for many cycles while trying to figure out how he could get back to you." Sam nodded again.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," he said then lifted his head to look up at him. "It's just hard to have him back then loose him again so suddenly." Quorra nodded in understanding then lightly placed one of her hands on one of his.

"We will never forget him," she said softly with a small smile. He smiled back then took her hand.

"No, we won't." Sam slowly stood up while holding her hand in his. "Come on," he said as he gave her one of his half smiles. "I'll take you out to eat and show you what else in great in my world." Quorra smiled up at him then slowly stood up after him. He gently pulled her by the hand to his motorcycle then let go and climbed on. She got on after him and wrapped her arms around his torso. Same pushed the button to open the garage then turned on his bike and sped out of the small building with Quorra clinging to his back.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam and Quorra had gotten home late that night. They were both exhausted from running nonstop since when they were on the Grid. Quorra had fallen asleep while they were riding back home, he didn't understand how she could fall asleep on the back of a motorcycle, but she did. He let her sleep in his bed and he took the couch with Marvin. Sam was planning on teaching Quorra how to act tomorrow so they could go out and get her clothes. She had what they found in his dad's old apartment in the arcade, which was a pair of old jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a black leather jacket.

Quorra was the first one awake the next morning. She was up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise again. It still amazed her. After watching the sun from the huge window in Sam's bedroom, she came down stairs to see Sam passed out on the couch with Marvin sleeping on his chest. She grinned at the scene before her and quietly sat in one of the chairs next to the couch to wait for him to wake up. Marvin had stirred upon her sitting down though; he lifted his head to look at her then stood up and stretched before jumping off of Sam then into her lap. She laughed and scratched him behind his ears while he tried to lick her fingers. The noise of Quorra's laugh and a few barks Marvin let out cause Sam to wake up. He stirred on the couch then arched his back to stretch with his arms over his head. She looked up at him and grinned wider as he woke up. He sat up and saw her sitting in the chair, legs crossed and still wearing the giant t-shirt he gave her to sleep in, with the small Boston Terrier in her lap.

"Good morning!" Quorra said enthusiastically after Sam looked over at her. He muffled a yawn with his hand then rubbed his eyes.

"Morning," he mumbled sleepily. Marvin got up from Quorra's lap and jumped back on him to lick his face. He smiled slightly then patted his head. "And morning to you too, Marv." Quorra watched them with wide and excited eyes. Sam looked back up at her and smiled. "You're up early," he said.

"I got up to watch the sunrise again," she answered with a nod and a grin. "It was as beautiful as last time."

"You should see sunset, its just as beautiful," he chuckled while petting Marvin.

"Can we watch it tonight?" she beamed with hopefulness. He nodded and she grinned even wider than she was previously. He liked her smile; it was cute and beautiful. He liked it even more when he was the cause of her smile.

Sam got up from the couch and walked to the small kitchen that was off to the side and opened the fridge. He scanned its contents; there were only a few cans of beer and some left over pizza in it. He sighed and closed the door again.

"Looks like we have to go out for breakfast," he said to Quorra with a light chuckle.

"Why is that?" she asked then curiously got up and walked over to him. He watched her and tried not to stare. Most of her long legs were exposed from the shirt she was wearing. It went down to the very tops of her thighs and hung loosely from her thin, strong frame. He diverted his eyes and thoughts that came along with seeing her that way by looking through the freezer; it was just as empty at the fridge.

"Because I seem to have no food," he said a minute later. She let out a small laugh then stopped herself.

"Was that an appropriate time to laugh?" she asked Sam as she cocked her head to the side. He chuckled and shrugged.

"It kinda was," he answered then looked at her again, restraining him self from letting his eyes look her up and down. He cleared his throat then ran his fingers through his hair. "Why don't you go get dressed so we can get some breakfast?"

"Where are we going?" she asked with a smile.

"Hmm… I'll take you to a diner, they usually have good breakfast foods." He smiled back then headed out of the kitchen. She turned and followed him out.

"Like what?" she asked curiously.

"Like…" Sam paused to think for a moment before turning around to face her. "Pancakes, eggs, bacon, waffles, bagels," he shrugged. "The list goes on and on."

"And they taste good?" Sam chuckled at her curiosity and questions about breakfast foods.

"Yes, yes. They do. Now go get changed so you can eat them yourself and stop asking questions," he answered with a grin. Quorra nodded then swiftly ran up the stairs to Sam's bedroom to change. He waited for her to finish then went up there so he could change his clothes as well.

They left on his bike together; he drove fast toward the city and she gazed around at her surroundings. It didn't take them long to reach one of the diners, Sam was driving fast and he didn't live too far away from the city. He parked the bike parallel to the curb once they reached the small diner and they headed inside. They sat across from each other at a booth and were both handed menus from a bored-looking waitress.

"There's so much to choose from!" Quorra said as she looked through the menu. Sam laughed and looked up from his own menu to look at her.

"You should try waffles with a side of bacon. They make good waffles and bacon here," he said before looking through his own menu.

"But… there's so much more that I could get!" she said. "This is a dilemma," she pursed her lips and started thinking. Sam watched her, clearly amused by how indecisive she was being. "Can I try everything?" she eventually asked Sam. He laughed and shook his head.

"Not all at once, you definitely cannot eat that much." She frowned slightly after he answered. "You can get each meal at a different time though," he added with a smile. "But you have to choose one at a time." Her frown was quickly replaced with a smile again and she set down the menu.

"Then I'll get what you suggested," she said as the waitress set down two glasses of water in front of each of them.

"Do any of yah want some coffee?" she asked in a nasally voice. Quorra looked away from the waitress and to Sam.

"What's coffee?" she asked. The waitress arched a brow at her for not knowing what coffee was.

"She's foreign," Sam quickly told the waitress then turned to Quorra. "It's a morning drink that helps wake up people. What to try it?" he asked and he got an excited nod from her. "Two cups of coffee then. And I'll have a ham and cheese omelet, and she'll have the waffles with a side of bacon." The waitress wrote down the order without saying another word then walked back to the kitchen.

"What's this?" Quorra asked as she picked up the glass of water that was in front of her. She lightly poked the straw that was in the drink then looked up at Sam.

"It's water. You drink it," Sam said then took a sip of his water through the straw. She watched him then did the same. Her eyes widened when the cold liquid came in contact with her tongue then set the glass down.

"It's cold!" she said a bit loudly after setting down the drink. He chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be," he said with a smile.

"It's weird!" she said as loudly as before.

"You might want to be a bit quieter," he told her despite the fact that he didn't mind her talking loudly. He thought it was cute.

"Oh," Quorra said then nodded slightly. "Sorry," she said in a half-whisper.

"You don't have to be _that_ quiet," he chuckled lightly. She smiled then turned her head to look out the window. She watched the cars and trucks pass by on the street. There wasn't as much vehicle activity on the Grid as there was here. She was amazed by how they all seemed organized. They were close together yet none hit each other.

The waitress brought them both cups of coffee. Once it was set down, Quorra picked it up and quickly took a sip of it, burning her tongue in the process.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed then set down the small mug. Sam looked up at her with concern.

"You okay?" he asked. She nodded slightly then frowned.

"No. The coffee hurt my tongue," she pouted a bit then pushed the cup away from her. "And it didn't taste good." Sam chuckled softly then handed her the glass of water.

"Here, sip your water to make your tongue feel better. And you have to add cream and sugar to the coffee to make it taste better," he said. She took her water from him and took a small sip, finding that the cold temperature soothed her burning tongue. Sam picked up her coffee cup then stirred in some sugar and some cream to make it taste better. He put only a little bit of sugar in his own. "Wait for it to cool off, then taste it again." She nodded as she continued to sip her water until it was gone.

A few minutes later, the waitress brought over their food and Sam thanked her. She nodded then headed back to the diner counter where she was sipping her own coffee. Quorra looked down at her waffles in amazement.

"I have never seen food like this before," she said as she poked one of her waffles with her food. Sam laughed and picked up his own fork.

"Everything seems to interest you. It's amazing," he said before taking a bite of him omelet. She grinned up at him then glanced at her coffee.

"Can I try the coffee now?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, it should be cool by now." Quorra picked up her mug and took a small sip, making an "mmm" noise as she did so.

"It tastes good! And it makes my insides feel warm," she said after taking another sip. Sam let out a small laugh and took a bite of his omelet.

"Try your waffles," he said as he pushed a small container of syrup towards her.

"What's this?" She picked up the syrup and examined it before looking at Sam again.

"It's syrup. You put of on your waffles after you cut them. It even tastes good on the bacon," Sam said. She nodded then picked up her knife and began cutting her waffles into square, bite size pieces. He watched her, amazed by how all her cut pieces seemed to be in perfect squares. "How did you do that?" he asked with a furrowed brow. She looked up from her plate at him.

"Do what?" she asked as she drizzled some syrup over her precisely cut waffles.

"You… you cut your waffles into almost perfect squares…" he said, clearly amazed by how she did it. She shrugged at his word then took a bit of her food, smiling as she did so.

"It only takes minor calculations," she said after she swallowed.

"Calculations?" Sam asked as he took another bite of his omelet, when he pulled the fork away, there was a string of cheese that dropped down his chin. Quorra smiled and laughed softly at the cheese that dribbled on his skin.

"Yeah, calculations," she shrugged and he wiped his chin clean. He nodded back, remembering that she was a program and not human, she could do things like that. They both ate their meals and drank their coffee while talking and kidding around. Sam paid for the meal after they were both done. They left the diner and Quorra was literally bouncing with energy. "Where are we going now?" she asked as she skipped over to the bike. Sam shrugged his shoulders.

"I was thinking we could go see Alan. I'm sure he would love to hear about everything," he smiled as he climbed on to the bike. She climbed on the back and wrapped her arms around him.

"Can we trust him?" she spoke before he turned on the motorcycle.

"Of course we can," he answered over the roar of the engine. She grinned and tightened her grip on his abdomen as he started driving.

Within a few minutes, they were arrived at Alan's place. Which was one of the benefits of using a motorcycle to navigate the city. They parked the bike in the driveway of the house and walked up to the door. Quorra was still skipping, since she was hyper on the caffeine from the coffee. Sam lightly rapped on the door before him. The door opened a few moments later by an older woman with salt and pepper hair.

"Hi, Mrs. Bradley," Sam said with a smile after the door was opened.

"Sam? Is that you?" the woman asked when she opened the door.

"It's me," Sam said as gave the woman a small hug. Quorra stood to the side and watched Sam and Mrs. Bradley.

"Please, come in," the woman said after pulling away from Sam. She stepped back inside and held the door open for both him and Quorra. They both walked in and Sam turned to face Mrs. Bradley.

"We're here to see Alan, is he here?" he said to the woman.

"Yes, yes. I figured you were here for him. He's in the living room," she motioned towards the living room as she spoke then walked back to the kitchen where she was preparing breakfast. Sam slowly walked into the living room and Quorra timidly followed him as she glanced about the house. Alan looked up from the newspaper he was reading on the couch as they came into the room.

"Sam?" he said.

"Yeah," Sam answered as he walked over to him. Quorra stayed behind him, still looking around the room. Alan set aside the paper and looked back at Quorra.

"Who's your friend?" Sam turned back to look at her after he asked.

"Oh, this is Quorra," he smiled and gently took her hand to pull her beside him.

"Hello," she greeted Alan with a smiled.

"Nice to meet you," Alan smiled back and reached out his hand for a shake, but Quorra just looked down at his hand in confusing.

"Oh, you shake it, Quorra," Sam said and she looked up at him before taking his hand and awkwardly shaking it form side to side. Alan arched a brow up at Sam and he smirked slightly while trying to hold back a laugh. She dropped his hand then slid it into her jacket pocket, blushing at the embarrassment she caused herself.

"So, what brings you both here?" Alan asked after folding his hands in his lap. He was looking up at both of them.

"Well, I came here to talk to you… about a lot, actually. Involving my father, among other things," Sam said seriously. Alan nodded then motioned toward the couch with his hand.

"Why don't you both take a seat then?" he said. Sam and nodded then sat down on the couch, but made sure he was facing him. Quorra slowly and quietly sat down next to Sam, not quite knowing if she should be doing anything or not, so she kept to herself.

"I'm not sure I know where to start," Sam said with a small chuckle. "There's so much to tell." Alan shrugged slightly.

"I guess, just where ever you feel is the best place to," he said as he leaned back against the couch and readied himself to listen.

"Okay…" Sam took a deep breath then started out from the beginning.

He explained what his father had been working on before he disappeared. He explained how he disappeared and why he didn't come back. He explained what he was doing while he was missing and what the Grid was and the back story to it. Sam then started explaining how he got on the Grid and what happened to him, how he met Quorra and saw his father again. How they fought to get out. How they were able to escape but his father couldn't because he reintegrated with Clu. Alan sat there and listened to everything he had to say, not interrupting him once. It Sam awhile to explain, but both Alan and Quorra were patient in waiting. Mrs. Bradley didn't even come into the living room to check on them.

Once he was done, Alan let out a long breath and soaked up all the information he had just received. It all mad sense to him, he knew that Flynn wouldn't just runaway from everything.

"Wow," said Alan once he composed himself. Sam nodded slowly and Quorra leaned forward to look at him. He looked back at her. "So… she's a program?"

"Kind of," answered Sam.

"I'm an isomorphic algorithms," Quorra spoke up for herself. "We're different from programs. No one created us. Flynn said that we just explained that we came into being after he modified the Grid." Sam turned his to watch her talk and Alan nodded when she finished.

"And you're here? In the real world?" he asked and she only nodded in response.

"I couldn't leave her there," Sam said. "So now I'm teaching her about how to act here. My dad did a pretty good at it though," he finished with a slight smile that was also panged by sadness. Quorra felt the same, she lost her mentor and he lost his father. For good this time.

"So, she could change everything in this world?" Alan asked while looking at Quorra, l clearly interested in her.

"Yeah but… I don't think I want to subject her to that." Sam said, Alan nodded in agreement, completely understanding what he meant. Quorra looked away from both of them and leaned back against the couch. It felt awkward to be talked about when she was right there. They all sat in silence for a moment before Alan spoke up.

"So, when will you officially be able to take over ENCOM, Sam?" he asked. Sam chuckled and shook his head.

"I have no idea. I was hoping that you would help me get things together though, I would have no idea what to do."

"Of course I would," Alan said with a smile. "I know you'll run the company the way it was meant to." Sam smiled in appreciation then nodded.

"Yeah, I'll try my best," he said before standing up. "Listen, we should go. I hadn't planned on stopping buy and Quorra and I had other plans…"

"Oh, that's perfectly fine," Alan said as he also stood up. Quorra glanced between the two of them before also. She moved next to Sam and watched as they shook hands in parting. She made a mental note on how they did it so that she could learn. "Thank you for stopping by and explaining all of that… It's a lot to take in, but I feel relief to know."

"It was no problem, I think you're the only person I could actually tell without getting told to check into a mental hospital," Sam said with a laugh at the end. Alan also laughed a bit and Quorra smiled though she didn't understand the joke. Alan slid his arm around Sam's shoulder and walked him to the door. She followed them.

"I guess I'll be seeing more of you. Of both of you, actually," Alan said as he opened the door for them.

"Yeah," Sam said with a smile. "A lot more."

"Good," Alan nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Quorra." She smiled and nodded her head.

"It was nice meeting you too, Alan." Sam took her hand then headed outside before turning to Alan again.

"See you!" he called as they walked toward his Ducati. Alan gave them a small wave of his hand before shutting the door.


End file.
